Sell kidneys or pay debts through people, the last option to survive in Afghanistan

Surgeon Nasir Ahmad, from Herat City Hospital, performed85 kidney transplants in 2021, an unusually high number. "99% of the donors donated a kidney in exchange for money. Only 1% were relatives who donated it to help a relative," he explains.

Ghulam Harat, 40, is a prototypical case. He sold a kidney in exchange for 2,000 euros. "I don't see myself capable of begging. With what they gave me for my kidney, my children can live for a while." In addition, he paid the debt to a human trafficker who, when the Taliban came to power, took him to Iran in search of a future.

His adventure ended in failure: the Iranian authorities arrested him and returned him to Afghanistan, but the debt, almost 200 euros, he had to pay anyway.

The doctors have recommended a year of rest, without making great efforts, to recover from the operation, but he assumes that, when his money runs out, he will have to accept any job, even if it involves physical work that may endanger your health.

Sell kidneys or pay debts to drug traffickers people, the last option to survive in Afghanistan

As Dr. Shekhaib, a specialist in Internal Medicine, says: "Most kidney donors will have serious health problems in the future, in Afghanistan there is neither a culture of donation nor an adequate health system." But for many, selling a kidney becomes the only way to survive. Prices range between 2,000 and 4,000 euros, depending on the blood group.

Save the Children warns about the situation in Afghanistan

The non-governmental organization Save the Children has stated that "the level of human suffering in Afghanistan has eclipsed that of any other humanitarian crisis in the world", with close to thirteen million children, which is two out of three, in need of humanitarian aid.

"The figures are almost impossible to comprehend: almost the entire country is expected to sink into poverty, and more than half the population faces critical levels of hunger," has alerted the interim director of Save the Children in Afghanistan, Fiona McSheehy, according to a statement from the NGO.